How do you download and install this software/update. This is the same for the NAV's in the 2005 DVD Nav systems, right?

 

See my blog
http://mdsbrain.com/mini/?p=127

 

Unfortunately, the counter arguement is that you can get integrated unit, much cheaper, with more functionality that are always getting better (case in point, the AVICs). This is nothing more than the JCW/aftermarket debate EXCEPT, in the case of electronics, the electronics get WAY further ahead than the car vendors. If you keep the car for 5+, never mind 10 years, I would seriously doubt MINI will keep updating the software ... its just not profitable when the NEW nav units just use built in microdrives (already the aftermarket standard for two years) ...

If you want ALL MINI OEM components, you have no choice. If you want the best ... integrated BT, integrated traffic reports, etc and more feature in the future ... go aftermarket (I dont mean the portables because yes, you stick in the glovebox. Then again, you can use them in all your cars.

It comes down to individual preference and money

 

I've had nav for a bunch of cars, built in. Lexus had the best, BMW the worst, in that it was intuitive to me. I even have the Garmin 2620 for my R1200GS motorcycle. I decided to get the Garmin Nuvi350 for MiniME. It's small, but large enough to read, gives good directions, and the voice is OK. I stuck it unobtrusively in the left corner of the windshield and you have to work at seeing what is there! With the touch screen, it is much easier to use than Garmin's own 2620. I like it, and was happy to pay approx.$650 for it. I really liked saving $1200. Not that there's anything wrong with the built-in. But $1200 can buy you a nice exhaust system.
Carl

 

You have me curious now about the Pioneer NAV. I must admit a huge level of dissatisfaction with just about everything Pioneer puts out in terms of user interface. Whether its car radios, home theater systems, DVD players, I am so disappointed in their GUI. In my opinion, Pioneer needs new software designers. But I hold out hope they will make better GUI's, they have to. The AVICs will be worth a look.

 

I cannot speak to the GUIs. I do know several people have installed some of the earlier AVICs because pics are in their gallery. The newest one, Z1, will not fit because its double DIN. However, technically speaking, they are doing the right thing by integrating BT, XM, traffic reports into the NAV, and going only with microdrives now.

 

I am a GPS person through and through. I use mine every day multiple times. At the moment, I use a Garmin portable unit and I enjoy it.

My MINI is on order and I vacillated on ordering the built in unit that would cost me $1700. While it was a lot of money, and while it looked very cool built it, actually trying to use it was what allowed me to know what the right decision was. The user interface is LOUSY to put it politely. It just sucks. Spinning a dial back and forth to do entry (which you have to do for every trip) is stupid and takes way too long. The ability to find places is terrible in the way that they divide up the destinations into groups. The groupings of destinations is way too arbitrary.

Try a decent portable unit for a week or two and you'll immediately see how poor the user interface is. To pay 3x what a good portable would cost just doesn't make any sense. Especially since this is technology that is changing rapidly. In the next year or two there will be advances that will happen that anyone with OEM equipment will be left out on. Recognize that a GPS is a mini computer. The speed and features are locked in to whatever you buy today. Recognize that a computer that was bought 3 years ago is slow and very out of date. The same reality will be true for any GPS that you buy today. Purchase a portable and in 3 years, replace it. You can do this 3 times before you will have equaled the cost of the OEM unit and you will have had the pleasure of a better unit the whole time as well.

I really wanted to find that the built in unit would be good enough but after having had the pleasure of a good handheld unit and knowing what a good GPS could do for me, and how well they could work, I just couldn't justify paying so much and getting so little.

 

Yep, it's a tough one. You get to remember just how good the UI is every time you get out of the car and have to put it in the boot, and hope that some loser doesn't see the mounting bracket and cut the top assuming you put it in the glovebox. And then stop to pull it out of the boot when you realize you need it to get to your next destination. And turn down the stereo so you can hear the voice prompts.
I've used my Garmin in my Miata. I know of what I speak.
Good points about the value and longevity though. Tradeoffs. It's always tradeoffs...

 

Has anyone tried the Alpine Blackbird?? http://www.alpine-usa.com/?

Looks pretty sweet!

 

Have you ever used the navigation in a honda/acura?

Hold button on steering wheel say "find mexican food" and have the closest mexican restaurants listed. No touching, no typing, just talk and the increidble voice recognition does the rest.

the amount of POI's (points of interest) are very good and the navigation is considered the best in the industry.

 

Yes, I admit thoes are great, but my point is, MINI/BMW's navi isn't crap as what HSE said:

 

Exactly, there are some trade offs but for me the perfect position of the large screen w/o any mounts put anywhere or blocking the window or vents with pop-up screens, not having to remove it or hide it as you would a portable unit, the fact it is covered with the car warranty vs messing with the electronics and the warranty with an aftermarket built in (that is also burgler bait), also the fact it is covered in the insurance, the functionality integration with the stereo and OBC, and finally the fact that it works quickly and gets me where I'm going outweighs the any UI setbacks. You simply learn it, get used to using it and it works

 

A bit of hyperbole?

Think about the Average Joe ... you know Joe ... he drives to work everyday, on weekends he goes grocery shopping, may be the wife takes the car to the Mall ... whatever. I would venture to bet 99% of all driving done by the average person doesnt need any fancy GPS ... Joe alreay knows his home town and people have been driving for a long time before GPS was invented.

When does Joe NEED GPS. Maybe he tries a new resteraunt in some town he doesnt know ... how often? Every other month? Maybe, once a year he takes a vacation by car (after all, most people fly, cruise or whatever). So the few times you need it, its no hassle at all.

HOWEVER ... the biggest part about portability is just that ... its portable. If you got more than one car, what are you going to do ... drop ANOTHER $2000 on another GPS unit? Isn't that a bit expensive for Joe? Especially consideing 95% its not used?

 

I dont get why these threads always turn into Honda/Toyota is doing it better. Untill i can drop a Honda nav in my car, its a pretty worthless thing to bring up right?

Going back, that Pioneer Nav looks so hot. 30GB Hard Drive...im a tech freak so *drool* over that baby but for me, the biggest thing really is intergration.

I already have an XM unit that I put in my glove box everytime I step out of the car cause im worried some jackass is gonna break my window to steal, only for me to turn around, call XM and cancle the service on that unit but now I have to buy a new unit and fix my car because some jacktart didnt know I could just make that unit a paper weight. So intergration is a huge thing for me.

 

Well, I'm just an 'average joe' and have used the nav more then 5% of the time. It began when I got it on the first car, the 3 series - I had a job that took me to an unfamiliar part of the bay area where I was easily lost if I tried to go around traffic, find restaurants or clients, etc. Once I had the car it was a pleasure to be able to rely on it and cut down on time, increased safe driving (no written directions or printed maps to try to consult while driving) and reduced the general stress of things associated with having to get somewhere I didn't know well and in general knowing I could find my way around or find a new route if needed with no advance notice.

It really has been irreplaceable and helped driving all over the place, even in familiar places its useful for the alternate route option (which can be really fun), location of places, etc - it just can save on time and hassle when you need or want it; it is really freeing to know that you can point the car in any direction and rely on finding your way home in the end. That just becomes the car you use when you think you'll need the nav - did fine without GPS in both cars (although I did get a HK Traffic Pro in the M Coupe after a bit that works well for a unit with no screen - it was OEM in Europe and fits right in, none of that misplaced aftermarket look ).

Your average Joe may never go anywhere, but we are not extensive travelers and yet the nav has been worth it enough to always consider having one.

 

You can. It's called Alpine

 

Hyperbole? Nope, not if you're using it. Would I run into the store with the top down and built in GPS? Sure. Would I do the same with a portable unit? Nope. In a convertible you remove valuable items, or risk having them removed for you. I've been in the Miata community for 12 years - I've lost count of the 'my top got sliced' posts...

I think you meant to say " 'assuming' 95% its not used" I use mine quite a bit. Meeting people at restaurants, going to stores I'm not familiar with, etc. And I road trip well more than once a year. Certainly, if you only drive locally, don't use a GPS much, have multiple cars, and don't mind mounts and wires, portable is the way to go (thought I've written that multiple times - hell, I HAVE one!)
I never thought I'd say it, but having had to run into the house many, many times to get the GPS after I've forgotten it (can't keep it in one car - there are several), or stopping to retrieve it, or going back to the car to pull it out for the night, it's nice just to have it there when I need it. Even if I don't really need directions, but just want to see where I am on the map (the wife loves that part.) Would I pay $1000 for the convenience a dozen times? No. Would I pay $1 for the convenience each of 1,000 times? That gets more reasonable.

I just did AMVIV III. I used it on each of the four runs I went on. Could I have used a portable? Sure. Was the Nav nice? You bet.


As a corollary - Do I use the MINIs full performance potential all the time? Do I use the back seat? The xenons? How about the grip of the tires? We could all get around 95% of the time in a cheaper, slower, more economical car. But we chose not to.

 

or BMW could finally step out of 2001 an industry leading nav unit, it matters b/c people compare cars, one of the reasons when I was between an Acura TL and a G35 that I wanted the TL was the Nav. (It certainly wasn't the FWD!). It's just THAT good, and I want to see other car makers step up and play ball, especially BMW!

 

I would agree with this if I was saying do I buy a MCS or Civic SI. btw, nav is a big option for me.

but the topic states do I get Nav or no Nav or other Navs availible for the MCS

 

I don't know about availability across the full car lineup, but some models of Honda include backup camera as standard with the Nav option.

 

I've already shared that I thought the OEM unit was overpriced for what you get, and I do know that no one has asked, but I will also share that with the OEM unit, you can add a backup camera and have it display on the GPS screen, and while you are doing that, you'll also notice that the resolution of the screen is actually quite amazingly awesome. Much more than you'd ever know if you just used the GPS maps on its display. In face, you could even use the OEM display to watch DVD movies if you wished.

 

And just where can you get one of these cameras from? What does it take to install them or get them installed. How can you play dvd's on the screen?

 

I didnt know you had a convert. If you have a convertable, I know many people dont even bother to lock them so thieves wont cut through the top with a knife. Yes, anything in sight is fair game.

As to the 95% case, your experience may be different. I'm trying to look at Average Joe.

I've had a Magellan for 18 months now. Use it in 2 cars, used it before buying a MINI. How many times?

1. Two driving trips (cant say vacation because one wasnt)
2. Maybe 10 other times for areas I did not know well.

To me, thats not worth $2K. Do you use 95% of the capability of the car? No, and I claim 99% of the drivers couldnt ... they rush to buy more HP and can't drive what they already have to each capability which is why I advocate driving school over more HP.

Your mileage may vary ... if your not Average Joe and use it constantly, then yes the money is worth it to you!

 

I installed the rear camera on my convertible, and it is among my best and most useful mods.

The rear camera is described here: http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/03/..._camera_review
Also see this thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=53297

For displaying video on the Nav screen, see: http://motoringfile.com/2005/06/30/mini_video_input/
There are also a number of aftermarket adapters for displaying video on the screen, for example: http://www.gnetcanada.com/navvideo-m...et_rgb_bmw.asp

 

This is all very intresting.... bla bla bla. I have a factory unit, it works fine matter of fact if you use your own head a little it works great. I have tried aftermarket because after I bought My MCS w/W's I was sold on Nav. I thought wife would enjoy portable for her S60 T5 volvo. She won't mess with it..IE plug it in or hide it. No matter the brand. MC seems to me to be about what is simple in life, not the money. Above that next time you have to stop to ask directions,or roll down the window and ask a cabbie you won't have to hear "do not know not from around here". Live life... Let's Roll